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How would this idea work as a setting?

Joined
Jul 9, 2024
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A version of Hyrule who's origin is not too dissimilar to the prologue of the 1997 Ralph Bakshi movie, Wizards, the Shannara Chronicles and the origins of the Land of Ooo from, Adventure Time. That being based on the concept of a high fantasy setting that was the result of the aftermath of a Nuclear War in the distant past.

A Hyrule being on a Far Future Earth and being born from the flames of Nuclear Armageddon rather than from the hands of the Goddess(es). A Kingdom forged from the heat of atomic fires and then tempered the cold of nuclear winter.

For my stab at this idea, said Nuclear war was the Cuban Missile Crisis gone hot. This would be reflected in the relics and ruins scattered across the kingdom. The "youngest" of these artifacts for lack of a better term, date from 1962. all the way up to October 29. Another part of my take would be Hyrule's location relative to our world. Being on the former North American continent and the kingdom founded upon the bones of the former United States, which would also once again be reflected in ruins and relics from that era.

so expect something such as a gimmicky cereal prize ring being treated like some valuable heirloom in Hyrule. And they can still see the atoms split in the darned thing.
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or even this
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The irony of someone wearing a ring emblazoned with the very weapons that destroyed the old world and gave birth to Hyrule as well as the planes that delivered them.

or Sheikah and Hylian researchers opening up and studying the contents of a "Crypt of Civilization".
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One of many Time Capsules created to preserve the memory of a civilization long past in the case an event such as a Nuclear War destroys it.

Or even something where a nuclear warhead is being worshipped by a group similar to the Yiga,
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Basically one of those "Medieval America" post apocalyptic settings where after a cataclysmic event that destroys modern civilization, the events of the plot or story is set as a time where society had recovered but is in a medieval level of development. similar to these scenarios
medieval_america_worlda_by_gottfreyundroy_dcvetw9.pngmedieval__merica_map_v_0_1_by_philipium_augustus_deriax4.pngthe_new_world_by_siryeehaw_de53v8z.pngde1e3n8-9d5ffd2c-07dd-4192-95f7-3911e50098b9.pngde64dal-0bc678d0-afa0-477b-ad54-6a9ff81cd730.png

Imagine Link traversing a bizarre alien landscape that long ago and unbeknownst to him, was once a toxic or nuclear waste dump. Said structures built to warn future generations of the danger of the materials buried beneath.
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Much of the races and creatures that inhabit Hyrule would be mutants from this war. Either as a side effect from the radiation or were originally deployed as bioweapons. Races with more Humanoid forms including the Rito, Gorons, and Zora were mutants descended from a surviving Humanity in order to adapt to a variety of environments in the new world. The Hylians, Shiekah and Gerudo, however. Their resemblance to anatomically modern Humans save for the pointed ears is unexplained. Either they're less extreme natural mutations or are of some pre-war experiment.

for the case of magical relics, Clarke's third law is invoked. Like for example; the Tri-force being a series of electronic chips, the master sword being the a pre war relic, etc. Both of those relics having different intended purposes rather than the purposes they familiarly have in the games.

Basically everything you see in Hyrule is because of Nukes.

Ganon or rather Demise's origins here would be similar to the origins of the Lich from Adventure Time, being born when the biggest and baddest nuke ever created was deployed and served as the final blow of the war, humanity's existence, and civilization as they knew it.
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The the Three Goddess and Hylia on the other hand were AI that over time, became mythologized and viewed as deities as the Hyruleans lost the concepts of and knowledge to understand pre war technology. The Legend of the creation of Hyrule actually not being the creation of a new world, but being these AI restoring a ruined Earth or a portion of it back to a more habitable state for the survivors to rebuild and eventually found Hyrule, which said AI would, for a time, care for and protect the fledgling Kingdom. Zelda and even Link's lineage was part of an experiment as part of a contingency plan for the aftermath of the Nuclear Holocaust. Specially Genetically enhanced to be far more capable and resilient than normal Humans, which would explain Link's endurance and strength in this scenario. Both were created with the intention to lead the New Humanity, the aforementioned Hylians, through unforgiving post-nuclear world after the missiles flew and the bombs dropped.

Only the Royal Family and the Sheikah knows about the kingdom's true fiery birth and the old world before it, however, some ancient entites such as the Great Deku Tree would only know the "Creation Myth" as they were post war mutant and have no memory of the apocalypse that came before. And while remnants of those times litter the Kingdom, the rest of Hyrule had forgotten and are utterly clueless as to the origin of what they regarded as strange artifacts and monuments.

Are they aware of the lands beyond their kingdom? Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, South America? Hyrule can be best describe as an island in a sea of glow. As far as the Hyruleans know, those lands are dead and now nothing more than myths and legends. Their existence relegated to fairy tales and bedtime stories told to children.

Hyrule here is quite possibly the only fully habitable place on Earth and everywhere else is a Nuclear Wasteland crawling with mutants and warring survivor factions.

Some new factions in this setting would be Outcasts. individuals and groups from different races across the kingdom being banished or cast out for a variety of reasons and have nowhere to go but the wastes beyond. When encountered, it would be observed that they had to relearn using prewar technology such as driving cars and using firearms just to survive and would resemble raiders as seen in both Fallout and the Mad Max movies.

Another would be encounters with rump states consisting of the descendants and remnants of the pre war US Government. Hunkered down in their underground strongholds they fled to when the Nuclear exchange happened. Their main stronghold being the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, in a region once known as Colorado but is now known as Eldin. They are completely untrustworthy of outsiders and have wild and ambitious dreams of one day overthrowing Hyrule and re-founding the United States.
 
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King Link

The Bane of the Kingdom
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Joined
Jun 16, 2024
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The Depths
Sounds deep and a good game idea generally. But its far to modern for a Zelda game.

If you were to make it a fan game I would absolutely support it. If you do then good luck.
 
Joined
Jul 9, 2024
Gender
Male
Sounds deep and a good game idea generally. But its far to modern for a Zelda game.

If you were to make it a fan game I would absolutely support it. If you do then good luck.
This is sort of the reason i asked a question on what parts of the North American continent each region of Hyrule would be located on in a previous thread
 

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